Unsung US civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin dies, aged 86

Colvin’s arrest for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a segregated bus helped spark the modern civil rights movement in the US.Published On 14 Jan 2026Claudette Colvin, who helped to ignite the modern civil rights movement in the US after refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus, has died aged 86.Colvin was 15 when she was arrested on a bus in Montgomery, nine months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for also refusing to give up her seat.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Racism never left US schools — now it’s taking worrying new formslist 2 of 3Harry Belafonte, US actor and civil rights activist, dies at 96list 3 of 3The anti-apartheid fighter empowering women in South Africaend of listColvin died of natural causes in Texas, according to a statement from her legacy foundation on Tuesday.Colvin was detained on March 2, 1955, after a bus driver called the police to complain that two Black girls were sitting near two white women in violation of segregation laws. Colvin refused to move when asked, leading to her arrest.“I remained seated because the lady could have sat in the seat opposite me,” Colvin told reporters in Paris in April 2023.“She refused because… a white person wasn’t supposed to sit close to a negro,” Colvin said.“People ask me why I refused to move, and I say history had me glued to the seat,” she added.Colvin was briefly imprisoned for disturbing public order. The following year, she became one of four Black female plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit challenging segregated bus seating in Montgomery.The case was successful, impacting public transportation throughout the US, including trains, aeroplanes and taxis.Colvin’s arrest occurred at a time of growing frustration over how Black people were being treated on Montgomery’s bus system. The arrest of Parks in December 1955 triggered the start of the yearlong Montgomery Bus Boycott.